Jeff Cook, Randy Owen and Teddy Gentry of Alabama.Photo: Rick Diamond
Alabamasinger Randy Owen is hanging out at his farm on Lookout Mountain in Alabama, enjoying the weather and thinking about the future.
A few days ago, Owen’s record-breaking band Alabama revealed plans to bring back their iconic June Jam festival to their hometown of Fort Payne, Alabama, for the first time in 26 years.
The concert event is on June 3, andtickets are on sale nowthrough Ticketmaster. Alabama will headline the concert, and there will be multiple activities for fans surrounding the event. Owen is inviting attendees to visit with him at his farm. There is also a talent contest with bass player Teddy Gentry, a songwriters concert, a brunch at Cook Castle for theJeff and Lisa Cook Foundation, and guitaristJeff Cook’s public memorial service.
“I’m real thankful that the stars have lined up, and we can do it,” Owen, 73, says. “It’s sad that Jeff won’t be part of it, but he’ll be part of it because his footprints are all over everything that we do.”
Owen says Alabama reinstituted the June Jam after fans begged them to bring it back and because they wanted the festival to be part of the band’s legacy.
“Speaking for myself, I wanted to leave something for the city to continue on after we’re going,” Owen says. “Jeff passed away, and the one thing we can give is our name to the June Jam that they can continue to hold. As long as there are people there in the city after we pass on, they still have a great function, a great festival. It can be a real positive for the city, the state, and the Southeast or the nation.”
Owen looks forward to “the positive vibe” accompanying the June Jam. Some of the stories he’s heard during the event over the years about how impactful Alabama’s music has been on people’s lives are hard for Owen to comprehend. Longtime fans bring their grandkids, husbands, wives, nieces and nephews, transforming the event into a multi-generational celebration.
“From year to year, you never know what wonderful things are going to happen,” Owen says. “My little [fan meet and greet] here on the farm is very relaxed and not really planned. We’ll let things happen as they want to happen. It’s not anything organized. I don’t like organization.”
Randy Owen.
Owen laughs that he might take requests and make a fool of himself because there are so many songs that he’s forgotten the lyrics.
“I’ll try if I mess them up, so what?” he says. “Then we talk and laugh and cry. It’s about real people and real lives. I love it.”
The comment is on point for Owen. Over the decades, most of the events and causes Owen has invested in have been about real people and real lives. In addition to raising more than $15 million for various charities through the June Jam festivals, he helped found Country Cares in 1989, which has raised more than $875 million forSt. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. His other charitable efforts include the Alabama Sheriffs Boys Ranch summer camps and raising funds for tornado and hurricane benefits, including a 2017 hurricane benefit that gathered $40 million for the victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.
“A lot of the stuff I’ve done in my life has to do with charity and helping others and helping cities and causes,” Owen says. “June Jam is a way to be real positive and leave something real positive on this earth after we’re gone. Hopefully that ain’t for a long time. But, you never know.”
Tickets to Alabama’s June Jam are available now through ticketmaster.com.
source: people.com
